


Homecoming

by Zoa



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben's POV, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluffy, Happily Ever After, Hux isn't named but he's the same asshole, Married Couple, Married Life, Oops, Rey's POV, ben is an air force pilot, ben's day wasn't nearly as bad as Rey's, domestic reylo, i added a chapter to what was supposed to be a one-shot, mishaps and mayhem, newlyweds, rey's having a hard day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-05-14 21:20:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19281403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoa/pseuds/Zoa
Summary: Rey has the perfect homecoming planned for her husband's return. But the day has other plans.





	1. PART 1

Rey had everything planned out.

 

She would get off work at 3:00.

 

Pick up the cake at 3:30. 

 

Get home by 4:30 and start dinner (prime rib: his favorite). 

 

Dinner would be done by 6:00. 

 

He would be home at 6:15. 

 

Rey smiled against the pencil she had pressed to her lips. 

 

Ben was coming home. 

 

They had been married for six months when he’d been deployed overseas.

 

That was the reality when your husband was an Air Force pilot; he might (he would) be gone for long stretches of time. She’d known the risks when they began dating - even more so when she agreed to marry him. That didn’t stop her from worrying or crying while he was gone. 

 

But today he was coming home. 

 

The clock ticked away on the sky-blue wall of her airy office, the hands approaching the number 3 slowly, like they knew Rey was anxiously waiting for it to chime the hour and wanted to torture her. 

 

Her knee hit the top of her desk as she bounced it nervously. 

 

“Ow,” she winced and rubbed the wounded area. 

 

The clock struck 3:00 pm. 

 

Rey had never moved so fast in her life. Within seconds she’d shut down her computer, stuffed it into her messenger bag, grabbed her jacket, and burst out of her office. She blasted past the front desk of Resistance Publishing’s corporate headquarters with a quick wave to Kaydel, the office’s lead administrative assistant. The blonde shooed Rey off with a laugh. Everyone in the office knew what was happening that day. Leia would have given Rey the day off but Rey had insisted she needed the distraction. They agreed on a compromise and Rey could leave early. She’d constructed her entire week around it. 

 

Excitement fueled every step Rey took toward her car and energized her fingers as she turned the key in the ignition and-

 

The engine stalled. 

 

“No no no no no!” Rey turned the key again and again but the old orange VW bug refused to start. She cursed (aiming an unfair one she’d feel guilty about later at Finn because he’d warned her this would happen), jumped out, and made her way back into the office. Kaydel raised her head curiously. 

 

“What are you doing back here?” She exclaimed. 

 

“My damn car stalled. I need to get an Uber.” Rey tapped furiously at her phone as she explained and made a frustrated noise at what appeared onscreen. “No…"

 

Thirty minutes. The closest Uber was forty minutes away. The bakery closed at 4:00 and it would take at least twenty minutes to get there from the office. She wouldn’t make it in time to pick up the cake. 

 

Rey leaned helplessly against the front desk and blew out a deep breath. “I’ll just have to walk.” She decided with a stiff nod. 

 

“To that bakery? Rey, it’s too far!” Kaydel protested. Rey snorted. 

 

“I can do it.” She said stubbornly as she pulled off her kitten heels and tugged on the sneakers she had in her bag. She usually took a half hour at lunch for a jog so she always brought her workout shoes to the office. 

 

As soon as the sneakers were on she was out the door again and on her way. 

 

****

 

Rey arrived at the bakery at 3:45, panting and sweating in her work clothes, but only fifteen minutes. She decided to call an Uber to get home. 

 

When the baker brought out the cake Rey brushed away all irritation and the excitement she’d had earlier returned. Until she opened the box.

 

“It’s supposed to say ‘Welcome home, Ben’ not ‘Welcome home, _BEAN_ ’!” 

 

The baker frowned. “I guess my assistant didn’t hear correctly. Next time you should speak more clearly. I can scrape it off.”

 

For a moment Rey bounced between cussing the baker off for blaming the customer instead of their employee or letting it go. She decided on the latter. Ben was going to be home in a couple of hours and she was determined to not let anything or anyone ruin the day. 

 

“Yes,” Rey smiled sweetly. “Please, could you scrape it off and redo it?”

 

“Of course. And I’ll take 15% off the extra charge.” 

 

Rey glared at the wiry ginger-haired man behind the counter. “What extra charge?”

 

“To redo the decoration after hours.” The baker blinked and looked at Rey as if charging for an error on the bakery’s part was standard procedure for any business. Rey was once again torn between telling the man what he deserved or getting the ordeal over with as quickly as possible. This time she leaned a little closer to blowing up, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. 

 

“Thank you,” Rey said through gritted teeth and when the man disappeared into the kitchen added “and that’ll be zero stars on your Yelp review, bastard.”

 

****

 

Rey was home at 5:00, a half hour late thanks to a traffic light going out downtown and creating havoc. She rushed through the house, practically threw the cake into the fridge, then got the prime rib into the oven. Thanks to her car mishap and subsequent run she needed to take a shower as well, which would add fifteen minutes to her timeline, but there was no way was she going to be a sweaty mess when Ben saw her for the first time in six months. And she could relax a bit and compose herself. 

 

However, when she stepped out of the bathroom, clean and dressed and tension released, the house’s fire alarms began to blare and she was accosted by the smell of smoke. Rey had no idea what the source of the smoke could be and panicked. She never left candles burning and she knew she hadn’t left the stove top on…

 

The oven. 

 

“Shit shit shit!” She yelped and sprinted to the kitchen. 

 

Sure enough she found the tiny room filled with smoke and when she opened the oven door more came pouring out. Rey coughed and waved the smoke away before tugging on the green oven mitts hanging on the oven door and yanking the pan with the prime rib out. 

 

Burned to a crisp. 

 

The combination of smoke and frustration released tears Rey didn’t bother controlling. The only thing she could do now was clear out the house and salvage what she could of the day. 

 

As she hurried around the house opening the windows and doors to air out the smoke, sirens brayed outside. Rey paused and scrambled for her phone, wondering why the alarm company hadn’t called her first but realized with a groan that she’d left her phone in the bathroom. She slid down the hall and grabbed the device. Sure enough there was a missed call from the alarm company. They had contacted the fire department when she hadn’t answered. Wondering how the day could get any worse, Rey made her way outside and waved to the big red fire truck now parking in her driveway and the two police cars which accompanied it. 

 

She was completely embarrassed. After she’d explained everything to the firefighter in charge, he and his company checked the oven to make sure there wasn’t anything wrong and turned off the alarms for her. The first responders were understanding and made her feel a little bit better by saying ‘these things happen, Mrs. Solo’ but not enough to make her forget she’d ruined Ben’s homecoming and wasted public resources. Rey was being comforted by a kind police officer when a taxi pulled up behind the fire truck. 

 

“Rey?” A deep voice made itself heard above the commotion of the firefighters returning gear to the fire truck and Rey’s heart flipped in her chest. She turned and there he was, so handsome in his blue uniform, his cap perched neatly atop his carefully groomed dark hair; his beautiful ears which she loved so much peeked out from underneath. He looked perfect. Like the first time she had seen him when he walked into the office for a lunch date with his mother.

 

But now he also looked terrified and guilt wracked her knowing she was responsible. 

 

Then he spotted her and he was running and had her gathered in his arms in two seconds. Rey almost couldn’t breathe he was holding her so tightly but she wasn’t going to complain. 

 

He was home. 

 

A sob escaped her throat and she buried her face in his chest, her arms circling his waist. 

 

“What happened?” She heard him whisper as he slid a hand soothingly over her back. 

 

Rey groaned. He was comforting her when she should have been serving him cake. “This isn’t what I planned for today.”

 

“What happened?” He insisted again. 

 

She sniffed. “I left dinner in the oven too long. It was a prime rib, Ben.” She answered, braving a nervous look at him. His face changed from concerned to horrified at the loss of his favorite meal, which of course only confirmed Rey’s fears that he was disappointed. “See! I ruined everything!” 

 

Ben laughed - Rey had no idea how he could laugh at the mess she’d made - and pulled her back into a hug. “You didn’t ruin anything! The only thing I care about is you and that you’re safe. Do you think I would ever be able to eat prime rib again if you’d gotten hurt - or worse - making it for me?”

 

“No?” She guessed, her voice muffled against his dress coat. She hoped the answer was no. 

 

“No, I wouldn’t.” Ben drew away and Rey raised her head slowly. “I wouldn’t survive.” Rey didn’t know if she’d ever seen a darker look in his brown eyes, like even the thought of losing her was enough to drive him to despair. She knew the feeling and it broke her heart she’d caused him that pain. 

 

Rey cradled his cheeks in her hands. “I’m sorry that I scared you. I just wanted today to be perfect.” He’d given her everything she had ever dreamed of, everything she had grown up without - a family, love, safety - and she’d promised herself she would give him everything she could in return. Before him she had existed in a vacuum - alone. He’d shown her she wasn’t alone. 

 

“I don’t need perfect.” He said now, his thumb tracing over her cheek. Rey closed her eyes at his touch. “All I need is _you_.”

 

“Just kiss her already!” A firefighter yelled, and he was was followed by a trail of chuckles from his companions. Rey dropped her hands to Ben’s forearms and glanced over her shoulder with a laugh. The entire group of first responders was watching the young couple, grins on every single face. 

 

It was then that Rey remembered she hadn’t been kissed or touched by her husband in six months and saw the second that it occurred to Ben. His arms tightened around her and she gasped as he pressed her to him. 

 

“I think that’s a very good idea.” He murmured and dipped his head and kissed her deeply. Whoops and whistles chorused in celebration behind the couple.

 

Rey smiled into the kiss, the audience fading into the background as she poured months of missing Ben into their embrace and the aches of the day slipped away. Her world was back. 

 

She was home. 


	2. PART 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day from Ben's perspective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *eyes all my multi-chapter wips lying ignored*
> 
> oops

The time was 2:15 p.m.

 

The plane was on schedule.

 

Ben would board at 2:30.

 

He’d be home by 6:15 as planned. 

 

A relieved sigh assuaged the drumming in his chest. 

 

After a brutal and violent deployment in which he’d been forced to make too many tough decisions, putting himself and his squad at risk, he was thankful for the small blessing of a punctual flight. There was a time in his life when he’d relished a campaign as fierce as this one - when he’d had a death-wish - but now it was all different. He had someone to come home to.

 

She’d saved him.

 

He rubbed at his shoulder under his suit, where a new scar had made its home - where debris from a target had shattered his aircraft window and a shard of glass had sliced through his flesh. Rey would find it as they made love. But she wouldn’t say a word. Not his Rey. No, she would break his heart by kissing the wound ever so gently - just like she had all the others - and loving him more. 

 

For that reason Ben had put on his dress uniform. She loved it when he wore that particular suit and only the best would do when he arrived home to his bride. 

 

_His bride. His wife._ The words were enough to send a shot of arousal straight to his groin and he shifted in his seat as he reprimanded himself. Ben didn’t abide by the stereotypical ‘man owns wife’ idea - he didn’t _possess_ her. He didn’t want to. All the same, the idea that she was _his_ and no one else’s, that no other man would ever hold her heart the way he did, was thrilling. But what he wanted above all else was for her to know he treasured her.

 

Rey was compassionate and gentle, strong and independent, and he admired and loved her so much it hurt. On a daily basis he was amazed and surprised that she’d chosen him to share her life with, to tell her secrets to; that he was the person who got to see her at her best and worst. He was blessed she had picked him to comfort her in moments of need.

 

But the moment he’d left her slender arms he’d been in a drought. She was the rain he desperately needed to remind himself there was more to being human than violence and anger and destruction. This time he needed to be comforted.

 

The air line attendant called for all military personnel to board next and Ben jumped up from his seat in the waiting area, taking the distance to the boarding tunnel in a few strides. 

 

“Captain Solo,” the attendant checking the boarding passes greeted him with a brilliant white smile on her pretty round face. “Welcome aboard. Eager to be home?”

 

“You have no idea.” Ben took back his boarding pass and hurried down the tunnel to his seat on the plane. He had no time for chitchat. 

 

****

 

The first part of the flight was besieged by a bad stretch of turbulence. Ben couldn’t help thinking that if he’d had the controls the plane and her passengers wouldn’t have suffered so much but alas airline pilots (in his personal experience) did not take kindly to offers of help from their passengers. No matter that they might be a combat pilot who was trained far better and longer than they had been. 

 

They also didn’t like it when that little fact was pointed out. 

 

When the air finally smoothed out and the seatbelt light dimmed, Ben happily took the opportunity to release his, stretching as best he could in his seat and thanking God that the pilot on this flight was somewhat competent. He checked his wristwatch: 

 

3:20. 

 

_Soon._

 

Soon he would see Rey again. Hold her again. Kiss her again. A part of him - the selfish bit - hoped she didn’t have some extravagant welcome-home party arranged. On his first day home he wanted her all to himself. That, in his mind, would be the perfect homecoming. 

 

But if there was something planned he wouldn’t complain. Especially if there was prime rib involved. 

 

****

 

Roughly an hour and a half later he was back in Chandrila and eyeing his wristwatch impatiently as he waited for a taxi.

 

5:00.

 

He would be home in an hour and fifteen minutes. 

 

He would see his Rey in an hour and fifteen minutes. 

 

Where was that damn taxi?

 

****

 

When the taxi rolled up to their house and Ben saw the firetruck and police cars his heart nearly jumped out of his body. In his panic he leapt out of the taxi before it had stopped moving. 

 

Where was she? Was she alright? What happened? She couldn’t be hurt. She couldn’t. They’d just found each other. These and even darker thoughts circled around his mind like a flock of vultures, pecking at the giddy happiness he’d enjoyed only moments before.

 

“Rey?” He called desperately for her, heart pounding a vicious tattoo in his chest. Never before had he needed to hear someone’s voice so badly in his life. 

 

His eyes roamed the driveway, sweeping past the collection of emergency vehicles and personnel until he saw a familiar brunette head turn. Ben swore if his adrenaline hadn’t been propping him up he would have fallen to his knees. He was moving before any rational thoughts could collect again in his brain. 

 

Only when he’d gathered in her in his arms was he truly relieved. But she was crying. That wouldn’t do. He held her close and asked what had happened. The loss of a prime rib did sting but at the sight of her poor distraught face as she lamented her bad luck he burst into laughter and held her tighter. 

 

“You didn’t ruin anything!” He said honestly. “The only thing I care about is you and that you’re safe. Do you think I would ever be able to eat prime rib again if you’d gotten hurt - or worse - making it for me?” The mere thought of losing her made breathing difficult and panic set in again. 

 

“No?” Her voice was small and insecure. Ben leaned back to look at her, surprised she wasn’t more sure of his sincerity.

 

“No, I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t survive.” 

 

Without her he’d fall again to that dark place he’d been in when she found him. Losing her would break him and he’d never recover. 

 

She must have seen the pain on his face or heard it in his voice because she pressed her palms to his cheeks and apologized for scaring him, explaining she’d only wanted the day to be flawless for him. Ben marveled at that. She was apologizing for nothing. She’d done nothing. That she wanted his homecoming to be perfect touched him but she had it all wrong.

 

“I don’t need perfect.” He whispered, swallowing past the lump in his throat. “All I need is _you_.” He traced over her cheek with his thumb, caressing the smooth skin that for one terrifying second he’d thought he’d never touch again. The way she closed her eyes and leaned into the touch was as close to heaven on earth as he’d ever get. Until he got her in bed. Then he’d take her to that brink again and again. 

 

“Just kiss her already!” A firefighter demanded loudly. 

 

He’d forgotten about all the first responders. In fact, he’d not paid one iota of attention to them after spotting his wife. Rey laughed, that beautiful smile bringing sunshine to her teary face and when she turned that smile on him Ben didn’t care who was watching. He tugged her to him and not without a little pride watched her eyes darken with desire. 

 

“I think that’s a very good idea,” he murmured right before kissing her soundly. He allowed all the seconds he’d missed her, all the minutes he’d wished he was home, all the hours he’d dreamt of her smile slide away because now she was there. She was really there in his arms and kissing him and he knew she’d missed him just as much.

 

Everything settled around him like pieces of a puzzle falling into place.

 

He was home.


End file.
